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BOSTON – Despite another sparkling performance from redshirt junior Clay Witt (37 saves), the Northeastern men's hockey team (16-10-3) fell short in its bid for a fifth Beanpot title in a 4-1 loss to No. 1 Boston College on Monday at TD Garden.

Boston College's Patrick Brown broke a 1-1 tie with 5:30 left in the third period, and the Eagles (22-4-3) tacked on two late insurance goals to win their fifth straight Beanpot title in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

Freshman John Stevens (Sea Isle City, N.J.) scored his first-career Beanpot goal off an assist from sophomore Kevin Roy (Lac-Beauport, Quebec). The goal tied the score at one-apiece late in the second, setting up a dramatic final 20 minutes of hockey before a sellout crowd of 17,565 at TD Garden.

Both teams had chances in the third period, but it was Boston College that found a breakthrough when Brown redirected a point shot from Isaac MacLeod inside the right post at the 14:30 mark. Brown scored two goals in the game, while Johnny Gaudreau added a goal and an assist. Kevin Hayes also scored for the Eagles and was named the tournament's MVP, while BC netminder Thatcher Demko (29 saves) took home the Eberly Award for the Beanpot's top goaltender.

"I like the way our team played," head coach Jim Madigan said after the game. "We battled for the whole game, and through two periods I liked where we were. If you can be 1-1, or up a goal or down a goal going into the third period, you've got a chance to win."

Boston College held a 41-30 edge in shots, including a 30-14 advantage in the final two periods. Northeastern went 0-for-3 on the power play, but did not commit a single penalty in the game.

The Eagles came close to drawing first blood at the 16:30 mark of the opening period when Quinn Smith located a loose puck at the left of the NU net with Witt out of position. Smith pounced on the disc at a tough angle and whipped a shot back towards the cage, but it whistled through the crease and went wide.

Northeastern then went on the offensive when redshirt junior Torin Snydeman (Groton, Mass.) made a foray into the Eagles' end and tested Demko with a wrister from the left circle that was sticked to the corner.

The Huskies continued to buzz around the BC net and appeared to go in front when sophomore Ryan Belonger (Green Bay, Wisc.) whacked in his own rebound at the 13:39 mark. The goal was waived off upon further review, however, as freshman Tanner Pond (Walled Lake, Mich.) was shoved into the net by BC's Michael Matheson, causing the goal to dislodge from the moorings just before the puck crossed the line.

In a cruel twist of fate, the Eagles came down and scored just 2:19 later. Witt initially made a stop on Gaudreau from a tight angle, but Boston College kept the play alive and eventually cashed in when Gaudreau threw a backhand pass into the slot from behind the net that was helped along by Bill Arnold to the stick of Hayes, who made no mistake with a quick release in front. With the assist, Gaudreau extended his point-streak to 24 games as the Eagles went in front 8:40 into the contest.

Northeastern had several chances to equalize midway through the period, but could not find a way through. Sophomore Mike McMurtry (Greely, Ontario) just missed the top corner on a backhand attempt from the right circle, before Roy's snapshot was eaten up and frozen by Demko, who turned aside all 16 NU shots in the period.

Witt (Brandon, Fla.) came up big late in the frame with several huge stops to keep the scoreline at 1-0. The Huskies' netminder first denied Gaudreau's wrister on the rush, before stoning Ryan Fitzgerald from point-blank range on a one-timer down low. Witt then made the save of the game when he robbed Hayes on a breakaway in the closing seconds of the period.

Trailing 1-0 to start the second stanza, Northeastern went back on the attack and came within inches of knotting the score within the first five minutes of the frame. On an odd-man rush, freshman Mike Szmatula (Commerce Township, Mich.) threw the puck at the net, forcing Demko to spill the rebound in the direction of junior Adam Reid (Chino Hills, Calif.). Reid followed up with another shot that dribbled off the pad of Demko and found the stick of Szmatula at the right of the net. Facing a tough angle, Szmatula tossed it back toward the cage and off the right post, before Demko was able to scramble back into position and dive on top of the rebound.

Witt then answered with a big save of his own off a Gaudreau wrister from the left circle. The rebound bounced dangerously into the goal-mouth and fell to the stick of Arnold, but junior Josh Manson (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) got in the way to deflect the rebound into the corner.

The back-and-forth play continued late into the second period, when Northeastern finally found an equalizer. After forcing a turnover deep in the BC zone, Roy drove hard to the net with a forehand attempt that was stopped by Demko. The BC netminder could not control the rebound, however, and Stevens, who was trailing the play, buried the rebound top-shelf on the backhand to even the score at 1-1 with 1:24 to play in the frame.

A tense third period ensued as both teams pressed to find the deciding goal. Demko was called into action first when Snydeman out-hustled a BC defender to initiate a partial breakaway in the opening seconds of the stanza. Snydeman deked twice, but Demko held his ground and kept the puck out as his momentum carried him into his own net.

Witt responded with a tough stop on a Hayes one-timer from between the circles with 10:50 to play in the third. Minutes later, Hayes found Arnold wide open in the low slot, but the puck hopped off his stick and away from danger.

The Eagles would eventually break the deadlock with 5:30 left in the third. After winning a battle behind the NU net, BC's Austin Cangelosi threw the puck back to the right point to MacLeod. The Eagles' defenseman quickly unleashed a shot at the net in the direction of Brown, who was able to tip the shot inside the right post while falling down to give BC a 2-1 lead.

The Huskies elected to pull Witt with 1:31 remaining in a last-ditch effort to tie the score. The comeback attempt was quickly put to rest, however, when Gaudreau intercepted an errant pass at center ice and scored into the empty net to make it 3-1 Eagles at the 18:44 mark.

Brown then tacked on another insurance marker with a wrister over the glove of Witt with 49.5 seconds showing on the clock to help BC extend its unbeaten streak to 15 straight games (14-0-1).

"It's a stepping-stone for what we have ahead of us," senior Braden Pimm (Fort St. John, British Columbia) said after the game. "We have a great team, and we are resilient. We are going to get back to work and we look forward to getting back here for the Hockey East tournament."

The Huskies will look to bounce back on Saturday, Feb. 15 at UMass. Opening faceoff from Amherst, Mass., is set for 7 p.m.